Ask anyone, especially in Broward County, where they would live if they had their choice of locations. Most would say “on the beach” and most of those would say “Galt Ocean Mile.” The story and the name of Galt Ocean Mile began in 1913, when Arthur Galt, a Chicago lawyer, bought a large 8,000 acre property. The Galt Ocean Mile was only part of this land. Then in 1953, Coral Ridge Properties, Inc. purchased a tract of land from Arthur Galt. This consisted of what is now Fort Lauderdale north from Sunrise Boulevard, between U.S. 1 and the Intracoastal Waterway north to Floranada Road plus the ocean frontage north of Oakland Park Boulevard, for approximately $19.4 million. This was the largest real estate development deal ever recorded in Florida at the time.
As sections were developed, the owners annexed them to the city. The oceanfront land was platted into 22 lots 200 feet wide. The first annex to the city around 1955 was eight lots at the south end of what became known as the “Mile”. From there, buildings and hotels began being developed on the Galt Mile. The original building was The Beach Club located where part of the L’ Hermitage
Condos now stand. The first oceanfront hotel was the Galt Ocean Mile Hotel. Following suit, Coral Ridge Properties built the Ocean Manor, the first high-rise hotel with beach frontage. “The Mile” developed rapidly as a local and tourist hot spot as sales began to boom, resulting in what we see today. Roger and Alexis Lewin are transplanted New Yorkers who purchased the Galt Ocean Mile condo featured this week.
“The unit hadn’t been touched in more than 35 years. We hired WEZ Interiors, a general contractor out of Miami, and stripped it back to the studs. My wife orchestrated the overall design of the renovation and selected the furnishings as well as the tile,” said Roger Lewin. “Our neighbor Georgia Lo Preiato works at the D&B Tile store in Pompano Beach. When we walked in the door, we were an open book. We didn’t have a manufacturer in mind but we were familiar with rectified tile, knew we hated grout and had an overall idea about the color theme. Georgia directed us to a number of different tiles that would complement our theme. For the flooring, we decided on the large format 24x24 Alpine White, a rectified tile. This assured us minimal grout lines. We selected a 6x12 grey slate look from Bati Orient for the shower walls.
“Our overall experience was excellent. Everyone who has seen the tile agree that it is beautiful. D&B Tile, and everyone we worked with there, was helpful and responsive. We would recommend them to anyone.” View any of these beautiful tiles at any of our nine convenient locations throughout South Florida and remember that the first step to a beautiful design is walking into D&B Tile.
Photos and article by G. Richard Booth 954-295-2154.
